Independent participatory media for Iran

Nasrin Sotoudeh, the jailed Iranian human rights lawyer, has been on a hunger strike since last week, her husband informed the Kaleme opposition website.

Reza Khandan, Sotoudeh’s husband, reported: “We have had ongoing problems in terms of visits, summonses, threats, especially against the family, to which my wife is very sensitive; they pick on my daughter, bar her from travelling abroad.”

Nasrin Sotoudeh has been detained since September 2010, and her continual application for a furlough has been rejected by the authorities. She has refused food on two other occasions during her incarceration in protest against the handling of her case and her treatment in jail.

Her husband reports that the authorities have restricted their visits and, for more than 18 months, all political prisoners have been denied phone calls.

Sotoudeh is charged with “acting against national security, propaganda against the regime” for her links to the Defenders of Human Rights Centre. She is serving a six-year sentenced and is barred from practicing law and traveling abroad for 10 years.